The object of the present invention is to solve the problem posed by wiring premises in which it is necessary to provide connection means connected to various circuits and networks such as a power supply circuit (mains), a telephone network, a computer network, etc. with said means being provided at various different points whose positions are liable to change. The invention is therefore not restricted to one particular type of premises and can satisfy a need which exists both in buildings intended for residential purposes and in buildings for professional use (offices, exhibition halls, etc.). This second type of building is referred to specifically below, by way of example, with particular mention being made of office buildings in which floor area is subdivided into work station areas with each work station requiring various accessories such as a lamp, telephone set(s), a computer terminal, a microcomputer, various office machines (typewriter, calculator), etc., in order to be able to function.
In order to optimize utilization of the available floor area in office buildings subdivided in this way into work station areas, and in particular in order to be able to keep up with changes in the working environment both with respect to personnel and with respect to equipment (changing the quantity and/or the quality of the employees using given offices, changes in technology giving rise to machines being replaced by more modern machines, etc.), it is necessary to be able to set up, and above all to change, the positions of work stations within the available area, i.e. it must be possible to move the various connection means associated with each work station, and also, possibly, to be able to install new connection means.
In a volume delimited by a floor, a ceiling, and by walls or partitions, there exist three possible locations for passing cables (metallic cables or optical cables) for connection to the connection means (electricity power points, computer connectors, telephone sockets, etc.) as required by the (or each) work station occupying said volume: namely the floor, the ceiling, and the walls. In practice, all three possibilities are made use of and they give rise to various different types of installation which are summarized briefly below.
When cables are passed in a false ceiling, they are extended to the level of the connection means for each work station (which means must be readily accessible) by hollow posts which generally extend between said false ceiling and the floor. The advantage of this type of installation is that it makes it possible to serve any location, in particular without regard to its position relative to the vertical walls. However, it is not easy to reconfigure, it occupies considerable space, and it requires its own special housing structure (false ceiling, posts, . . . ).
At floor level, there are various different ways and manners of passing cables.
If the cables are flat, they may be placed beneath a floor covering (e.g. carpet) and connected to connection means at the location of each work station. An installation of this type can serve any location, occupies very little space, and does not require its own special housing structure. However, reconfiguration is difficult since the floor covering must be lifted and new cables must then be laid.
If the cables are conventional in form (i.e. round) they may be laid beneath a load-bearing surface situated at a distance from the underlying floor (the layer of concrete between two floors of a building, for example). This load-bearing surface may be constituted by rigid slabs each standing on the underlying floor by means of legs of adjustable height disposed at their corners. Such slabs are known as "computer slabs" because they were originally designed for installation in rooms intended specifically to contain computer equipment. Computer slabs are advantageous in that they enable any location in premises equipped with them to be served and it is easy to reconfigure the cable networks underneath them: in order to gain access to any one of such networks, it is necessary to lift only a small number of slabs running along the old path of the network in question and also along its new path. Enough space is left free between the supporting legs to ensure that a link between one point and another can run directly or neatly directly. However, the cost of installations of this type limits their use to premises where they are absolutely necessary.
Round section cables can also be laid in a grid of channels constituted by assembling flexible plates on the ground, which plates are several centimeters thick and contain portions of perpendicular channels, such that juxtaposing a plurality of plates constitutes said grid of channels. The projecting portions of these plates which occupy the major portion of their area, include peripheral shoulders for receiving channel covers in the form of removable strong thin lid plates. The ground plates together with their lids present a plane surface which is normally covered with a floor covering (carpet, linoleum squares, etc.). Such an installation occupies little room and makes it possible to serve practically any point within a given space. However, it is fairly expensive and is not as easily reconfigured as an installation where cable networks are received beneath computer slabs.
The third possible location for passing cables in a given premises, other than the ceiling and the floor, is constituted by the surrounding walls or vertical partitions. In conventional manner, each room or partitioned-off area is surrounded, at floor level, by a flat sheath which also acts as a skirting board. The sheath is constituted by an elongate housing with a flat lid and it contains guides enabling several series of cables to be disposed one above the other. Connection means such as sockets or outlets are provided for snap-fastening to any point along the elongate housing. Between any two non-contiguous outlets the housing is closed by a portion of lid which is cut to the appropriate length. When it is desired to change the location of an outlet or a group of outlets, it suffices merely to remove the lid from the sheath over the appropriate length, to undo the snap-fastening of said outlet or group of outlets, and then to snap-fasten it in the new location The sheath is then closed again by cutting lid material to length, as required. Such an installation has the advantage of being easy to install and to reconfigure. However, it is suitable only for relatively small premises where the stands for supporting the equipment served by the hollow skirting board are located close to said skirting. Connections between the skirting and the equipment it serves are made by loose connection cables and it is important that such cables should not cross the path of people walking about.
All of the types of installation and equipment for providing such installations as described briefly above thus have various combinations of advantages and drawbacks. The object of the present invention is to provide an installation for distributing wiring in buildings which retains the advantages of prior installations while mitigating their drawbacks